Gathering Lore Questions for the Fan Festival in Las Vegas!

Hello everyone! Fernehalwes here, back from the dead (sort of).

Fan Fest 2016 Las Vegas is almost upon us, and while I’ll be there to answer questions, sing merrily, and consume a copious amount of reasonably priced cocktails, the undisputed Lord of the Lore, Banri Oda, will unfortunately be stuck in Japan, dreaming of consuming a copious amount of reasonably priced cocktails. However, Eorzean lore begins and ends with Oda-san, so we felt the upcoming Lore panel (oh, we haven’t announced it yet…) would not be complete without some insight from the master. And so, we’re going to open this thread for the next few days to gather questions for Oda-san. Ask about the game. Ask about its mysteries. Ask about Oda-san himself. Nothing is off limits!*

(*Excluding everything we deem off limits)

I’ll run the questions by Oda-san and get his answers before Fan Fest, then set aside some time during my panel to answer as many as we can. Thanks for all your help!

Please get your questions in by Tuesday, October 4th at 6:00 p.m. (PDT).

Here's a question: we know why the statues of Nald'Thal in Ul'dah look like Hyur, despite being in a city dominated by Lalafellin patricians. But why in the world does Garuda look like a human, with a humanoid face and body, and not an Ixal? Was she inspired by an Allagan individual, perhaps, who had a hand in the creation (or freedom) of the Iksalion? Or is there another reason for her humanoid appearance?

Another question about men and beastmen: thanks to the Great Gubal Library, we know that the Mamool Ja are a large portion of the native people of the western continent/new world. Are there members of the playable Spoken races that live over there, too, or is that a big secret for now? Were popotoes named by Lominsan Lalafell, or by indigenous Lalafell, for example? These burning questions must needs be answered!

The books in the Great Gubal Library (Hard) dungeon reveals that Cure magic comes in the form of Cure, Cure 2, Cure 3, and Cure 4. Is there an explanation on why Cure 4 is something that most living White Mages (including the Warrior of Light) do not possess?

I have a question about how far the damage from the Calamity reached. I assumed at first that when Dalamud fell it changed the landscapes of Mor Dhona and the surrounding areas somewhat, but with the release of the Heavensward areas, it seems like Coerthas got affected even more severely than Mor Dhona did.

Did entire landmasses shift or get swallowed up? Did it affect other continents?

What does she want with so many allagan tomestones ? Is there something sinister going on behind the scenes ? Where does she get all of that powerful equipment ? Why does she only seem to employ females ? How did she get to be such a fashion trend setter ?

Aw, no way! Oda was on my list of people I want to sign my Encyclopaedia Eorzea (you're there too, Ferne, so I'm glad you'll be around).
Anyways, I have three questions for Mr. Oda!

(1) As somebody responsible for not simply writing a story but for creating and fleshing out the enormous world that it takes place in, what aspects of Final Fantasy XIV's lore did you find the most difficult to solidify and conceptualize? In addition, what part of the world did/do you enjoy creating the most?

(2) Apologies if I have this wrong (and if I do, please disregard the question) but as I understand it, you weren't in charge of Eorzea and its lore during the initial Tanaka era. What was it like to be put in charge of further developing a pre-existing fantasy world? Were there many (unused) aspects of it that you chose to disregard or go in a new direction with?

(3) I've heard (I believe in a GamerEscape podcast) that you consume an enormous amount of literature as part of your job, and I imagine the inspirations for Eorzea and the world of Hydaelyn are quite numerous and constantly growing, so I'm gonna try to keep this as narrow as I can. What would you say are three outside works that inspired that original process of creating the world of Final Fantasy XIV - its nations and their specific relationships to each other, its religions, its society, that sort of thing?

Can't wait for FanFest! You can bet I'll be all over a panel about lore.

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